Russia's Gazprom says offshore part of TurkStream is complete

The construction of the offshore part of the TurkStream pipeline that will pump Russian gas to Turkey has been completed, a senior official at Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Monday.

Gazprom’s Oleg Aksyutin made the announcement on television after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met in Istanbul to mark the completion of the offshore leg of the pipeline.

The 930 km long pipeline runs through the Black Sea from Anapa in Russia to Kiyikoy in Turkey.

According to TurkStream the pipeline will directly connect the large gas reserves in Russia to the Turkish gas transportation network, 'creating a reliable source of energy' for Turkey, south and south-east Europe.

Cyprus with the support of the EU plans a competing project referred to as the East Med pipeline that will link up Cypriot, Israeli and Egyprian Eastern Mediterranean gas deposits with Greece and Italy.